Obama to nominate Jack Lew, an Orthodox Jew, as next U.S. Treasury Secretary

Lew, who had served as Obama's chief of staff, will replace Timothy Geithner, according to a source; Lew has close working relationships with Israeli envoy to the U.S. and Deputy FM Danny Ayalon and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.

U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate White House chief of staff Jack Lew as his next Treasury Secretary on Thursday, replacing Timothy Geithner, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Lew had been widely expected to be tapped for the role. He has served as budget director for Obama and for former President Bill Clinton.

Last year, Lew was named Obama's chief of staff, and before that he had served as the White House budget director.

Over recent years, Lew, whose son studied in a yeshiva in Israel, has developed a close working relationship with Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, and has met several times with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.

Lew, who served as budget director under President Bill Clinton and was a deputy to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before going back to the budget job under Obama, has strong relationships with lawmakers. He was instrumental in negotiating the debt ceiling talks with Republicans in 2012.